This one's for you, Jes

After our long but beautiful drive from Austin to El Paso yesterday,
Grandpa Jones and I decided to sleep in and rest this morning.
Emma was going to be at Kindergarten all day
and Christopher at Head Start until 11:30 this morning;

so we showed up at their house at noon.
We came bearing small gifts of tiny Tonka cars
and Matchbox sized trucks ...

The boys were pleased and we played for a long time ...
Diana updated us about Jesse as much as she could.
What I can tell you in this blog isn't very much.
It will have to suffice to say that Jesse is being moved
from his platoon and will end up being located
where we all thought he was going to be originally ...
He has been in another location that Diana
says is actually less desirable;
but once he is relocated, he will be where we all thought
he was going to be deployed to ...
Whew!
I just read that paragraph back, and it is about as
confusing as anything I have ever written in my life ...
I asked Diana about an address where we could send
mail and packages --
she is going to give that to me tomorrow,
and then I will e-mail all of you with that information.
I read "Limu, the Blue Turtle" to Christopher.
And then Christopher sat down and "read" it to Matthew!
He told the story pretty well, especially the
part with the sharks!
The boys opened up some of the gifts
from Aunt Rachel and Uncle Nick --
tons of stickers and art supplies ...
We spent a solid hour quietly coloring and putting stuff together --
very fun!
This is Samantha, or "Sammie"
the newest Pahman pet ...
She had been hiding all over the house
(because of Grandpa and I being strangers),
but after a few hours, she got friendly with grandpa ...
Oh! And let's not forgot Mitzie ...
who is absolutely the hugest cat I have ever seen --
she could dress up as a raccoon for halloween without much trouble at all!
Grandma and Matthew sharing a hug ...
Before we knew it, the afternoon was over and it was time
for Emma's bus to arrive.
Diana got an amazing deal on this stroller that has a
rear end that can accommodate another toddler --
very handy for long walks when Christopher gets tired
and wants to ride along ...
Here comes Emma's bus!
Do you think she is happy to see her Grandma Jones? :)
(and speaking of rear ends, mine has been cropped out
of this picture, despite Mr. Jones!)
If I could post a picture for "happiness",
this one would be it!
Grandpa gives Emma a hug ...
Emma attends Kindergarten in El Paso.
Her bus arrives at 7:30 a.m.
and drops her off at 3:30 p.m.
That's a long day for a 5-year-old ...
She has the most beautiful and precious face ...
Here's Matthew getting mushy with mama ...
Emma was excited about seeing these presents!
She is very good at stickers and putting stuff together.
She enjoyed herself hugely ...
and she made a mosaic with her stickers ...
(she was following the instructions that came with the kit)
Matthew is almost 2-1/2 now!
We decided to eat out at the Golden Corral tonight.
It's a buffet place (all-you-can-eat)
and the Pahman kiddos put away
a lot of food!
Emma ate almost as much as I did
(and I ate too much),
and Christopher easily out-ate all of us!
(he weighs 38 pounds!)

Matthew ate his fair share as well ...
For dessert, we got ice cream and decorated it
with M & M's and gummy bears and whipped cream -- YUM!
Matthew had a little trouble keeping the ice cream
on his spoon, so Emma helped him ...

We stopped at a store on the way home after dinner
to pick up some hats for the little kids
because we are going to an air show over at Biggs Air Field
tomorrow -- and the sun is so hot here!

I told the little ones that I would read them a bedtime story
if they would help their mom by getting their pj's on.

Diana helped Matthew brush his teeth ...

Look at Christopher's clean teeth!
And Emma too!

We read "The Cow That Went Oink"
and then everyone got tucked in for the night ...

We had a good day with your family, Jesse.
It's hard to be here without you. I can't imagine
how hard it is everyday for Diana and the kids ...
but they are doing well and staying strong.

We'll post pictures of the air show tomorrow ...